Canada2019112 minFrench, Vietnamese with English SubtitlesDrama, Family
A right-wing government controls Quebec, closing its borders and pushing immigrants to leave. Widower Hiên lives a meager life running a dépanneur. Enticed by his daughter Phuong’s move to Vietnam, Hiên makes arrangements to leave everything behind. But when a neighbourhood boy is left under the temporary care of Phuong’s aimless Quebecois boyfriend, Hiên is driven to solve the mystery of the boy’s missing mother.
Veteran Quebec actor Nguyên Thành Tri gives an intense performance as Hiên, a stoic ex-soldier with a deep history in conflict and post-war trauma, whose eyes have seen things many of us would never understand. Inspired by watching his refugee parents during the 1995 Quebec referendum, writer/director Ky Nam Le Duc’s film is framed by the Vietnamese refugee experience, where this not-so-alternate universe reveals desperate people in no-win situations whose only choice is to try to make the best of their newfound chaos.
– Aram Siu Wai Collier
Nguyên Thành Tri
Mickaël Gouin
Junior Jean-Baptiste
Alice Tran
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Festival du Nouveau Cinema, 2020
Gimli Film Festival, 2020
Ky Nam Le Duc
Ky Nam Le Duc studied film at UQAM and has directed a number of short films. His film, Oscillations (2017), premiered at Festival du Nouveau Cinema. He is a member of Les Films de l’Autre. The Greatest Country in the World (2019) is his latest feature film.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
PG
ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services. Ticket holders can watch on the CineSend Reel Asian portal.
November 14, 2020 at 4:30PM
The 2020 Canadian Spotlight features not one but three Canadian media artists who work at the intersections of experiential, experimental moving image and narrative.
What does a hot bowl of lovingly prepared soup remind you of? The taste of home? The warm embrace of a loved one? For Long, a widower and cook at a Vietnamese restaurant in Warsaw, his famous pho is his pride, and his grade-school daughter Mia is his joy. But their world changes when the restaurant is sold, forcing Long to learn to make sushi. Meanwhile, Mia is frustrated by her father's caring but old-fashioned ways, while fearing he is moving on from the memory of her late mother.
These six dynamic films touch upon art not solely as a creative practice for self expression but an integral force in making space, along with the responsibilities that come with it.
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is a unique showcase of contemporary Asian cinema and work from Asia and the Asian diaspora. Works include films and videos by artists in Canada, the U.S., Asia and all over the world. As Canada’s largest pan-Asian film festival, Reel Asian provides a public forum for Asian media artists and their work, and fuels the growing appreciation for Asian cinema in Canada.
401 Richmond Street West, The Commons (Suite 448)
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3A8 Canada
(416) 703 – 9333
info@reelasian.com
Charitable number: 870021383RR0001
